One of my New Year’s resolutions, (besides exercising more, eating less and being a better person), is to read more classic fiction. I was inspired by the challenge put forth my Ann and Michael from Books on the Nightstand. It’s called 12 in ’12 and the idea is to read 12 books in 2012. You may decide to read 12 sci-fi books, or maybe 12 books by a certain author, whatever tickles your fancy. I decided to pick 12 classics because it’s something I don’t usually read but feel like I should. This goes with that being a better person resolution….
I tend to gravitate to the new releases and there are so many of them I want to read. How can I possibly get off the new book merry-go-round and retreat back to the classics, especially when Goodreads, Bookpage and book bloggers keep tempting me with all those lovely, new titles!
This is funny logic coming from a person that has about 300 smelly, spine flaking, ancient books strewn all over the house. But it’s so comforting having all my old books surrounding me and I do manage to read a few of them a year, but the stack of new titles, hot off the presses seem to call my name just a tad louder.
As with most New Year’s resolutions, I promptly forgot about the challenge, and began hoarding and devouring piles of new books…I’m telling you it’s a sickness. But a program on TV reminded me of my resolution and my BOTN challenge. The show is called Grimm, and if you haven’t watched it you should. It’s a police procedural very loosely based on the fairy tales by the Grimm brothers. I too scoffed when I read about this show, especially since Once Upon a Time, another TV show based on fairy tales, came out this year, but it is terrific. Anyway, Friday’s show was based on the classic novel by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men and in a round about way, that is how I came to remember my resolution and the challenge and get back on track! Convoluted but true!
So, today I took a step toward keeping my challenge promise. I went to the library and checked out a copy of the Steinbeck classic, because of course, among my many piles of books I do not own a copy!